A little girl had
been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this
beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside.
The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry
to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just
inside the door of the Target.
"What?" Mom asked.
"Let's run
through the rain!" She repeated.
This young child waited about another minute and
repeated:
"Mom, let's run through the rain,"
"We'll get
soaked if we do," Mom said.
"No, we
won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's
arm.
"This
morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"
"Don't you
remember? When you were talking to Daddy
about his cancer, you said, 'If God can
get us through this, he can get us
through anything!"
Now the entire
crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the
rain. We all stood silently. No one came
or left in the next few minutes. Mom
paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh
it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But
this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life.
A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it
will bloom into faith.
"Honey, you
are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed
washing," Mom said.
Then off they ran.
We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and
yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just
in case. They got soaked.
But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed
like children all the way to their cars.
And yes, I did. I
ran. I got wet. I needed washing.
Circumstances or
people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money,
and they can take away your health. But
no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to
make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. For to;
Everything There Is A Season And A Time To Every Purpose Under Heaven! ( Ecclesiastes 3:1 )
forget "to run in the rain!" Amen.
Thank You Joe for this beautiful story. During the time of Lent this story offers us a moment to reflect & act the way God has invited us to By going & listening to his son & doing what He has done, by loving God & neighbor. Thank You Joe.
ReplyDeleteKind Regards,
joe.